Blood Tulip
by public static void
Summary: When Teddy wakes up there is no one to greet him. He lives alone and the only girl who cares for him is dead, gone in an instant thanks to a potion gone wrong. A potion called Wolfsbane, meant for him. WARNING: suicide.


**AN:** For Wren, as part of the Monthly One Shot Exchange. I hope you like it :)

* * *

The pillow is softer than he thought, and when he closes his eyes there's no coming back and the world becomes a worry for another day. Right now it's time to sleep, even if it's not the most appropriate thing to do at the moment.

When Teddy wakes up there is no one to greet him. He lives alone and the only girl who cares for him is dead, gone in an instant thanks to a potion gone wrong. A potion called Wolfsbane, intended for him.

Teddy smiles in the darkness of his bedroom. He doesn't know if it's already a new day or if night has fallen for ever on his home. Is it really a home if he's always lonely and afraid of the shadows cast by his scars?

He looks to the vase with a single flower, the red tulip she always gave to him on Sundays after the family gatherings at the Burrow. It means much more know that he'll never get another one, and Teddy has a purpose now.

He stands up and gets out of his small house. The little town where he lives is lively, a stark contrast to his current emotions, with people running errands and children playing under the trees of the sidewalk. Teddy scrunches his nose, trying to separate himself from that joyful world full of color, and walks to the small library.

There are not many books in it, only a few rows of bookshelves that have enough material to cover the needs of a tiny primary school and the wishes of a handful of housewives with no other hobbies but reading. Teddy goes to the children section because he knows the answer lies there, hidden in plain sight with only a dusty cover to shield itself.

The tale is found quickly. In the cover there is a pink rose, romantic unlike the cheery red tulip. He doesn't bother to take it out. He only opens it in a random page and reads away the words as if he were blowing on a dandelion. There! The pink rose, preserved in a vase.

He knows the spell, having being taught by the best Herbology Professor Hogwarts has ever seen. The only thing he needs is a drop of blood and a mirror to reflect his feelings over it.

The ritual is short, a tiny piece of magic which leaves him tired. The tulip will live, though, and that is enough for Teddy.

The last gift from Victoire is a bittersweet reminder of what could have been.

* * *

"Teddy?"

The voice sounds faint and shrilly. He knows is only Dominique bringing more food from the Weasleys. At least his godfather comes every day, if only to check up on him and bring him the latest news of James and the Cup he won for England, or Albus and some of his research for the Unspeakables, or Lily and her new boyfriend from Bulgaria...

Dominique never speaks to him, and only calls his name so he can tell her where he is. Really, is not as if the house is a big manor like the one Scorpius Malfoy has.

"Laundry room," he says and rests his head against the wall for a second. There is not much for him to wash, but the few shirts and trousers he wears to work are always stained with something or other, and Teddy might as well believe his coworkers when they say he's been distracted.

Isn't he allowed to be distracted after the death of his girlfriend?

When Dominique finds him he's still resting against the wall. His fist hits the concrete and Dominique gasps in alarm. She grabs his hand and checks his wrist like the good Healer she is, and after a spell the twisted pinky that barely hurts is healed.

"You need someone, Teddy. Why don't you let me help you?"

All he does is to smile. His teeth are white, but his smile is strained and Dominique doesn't believe for an instant the sentiment he tries to show.

"I fear for you, Teddy," she says with her low voice and her big, wide eyes. Her nose reminds him of Victoire and Teddy hits the wall again. This time he isn't hurt, but his knuckles sting with pain.

"Alright, Teddy," she tells him after a brief nod. "I won't be back tomorrow."

She is at the door when she turns around and opens her mouth as if to talk to him. Teddy looks expectantly at Dominique but doesn't speak. If she is worried then that's her fault; she is the one who should have brewed the Wolfsbane, not Victoire. She deserves it.

Yet he is the one needs the potion. He's not a werewolf like his father before him, but his mind runs away from him and he becomes an animal trapped in a man's body. She brewed the potion for him, and Teddy can't swallow his guilt.

* * *

Dominique doesn't return for two weeks after that day. Her absence is a void because she isn't there at the beginning and she isn't there at the end. Today's the end, at least for Teddy.

He has heard women kill themselves in the bathtub to leave no messes behind; there is a certain order and cleanliness in that, but it isn't what he chooses for himself.

The living room is his favorite room. It's small and cozy, and it's the place where Victoire first tells him she loves him. The perfect place to go to sleep.

He waits until his godfather and Ginny have already gone, with their stony eyes cold with sorrow and sadness.

A cup of tea and a slice of cake are his last meal, the sweet reminder of the sacrifice he'll do. It's not easy to choose death, but it's easy to let everything go and hide beneath that veil of uncertainty.

He slits one wrist and then the other. His wand is out of his reach, resting on the small coffee table along with Victoire's.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The same shrill voice he's been waiting for the past week (not the first week, but the second one, when he thought he was not loved anymore) shouts, and his dizzyness becomes shivering and shaking.

"Will you quit shouting and let me bleed in peace!"

But his voice doesn't come out because he's fading and suddenly there's fear in his heart and he doesn't want to leave Dominique alone, feeling like he has for the past weeks.

"You stupid, arrogant, wizard!" she says and begins to shed tears as she heals the cuts and helps with the shaking of his whole body. "Why did you do it, Teddy? Don't you know how much you matter to me?"

She doesn't say she loves him, which is fine; he doesn't want to hear those words from her yet because her voice is not right and her eyes are too wide.

But he wants the soft touch of her hand as she hands him the parcels of food from her parents, and he wants the light from her eyes when she opens them wide with surprise.

"Don't let me die, Dom," he begs, and the strength comes back to him. "Don't tell my godfather. Don't let me die."

She's crying even more. The tears fall over him while she looks for something in her purse.

"I won't, Teddy," her voice is a whisper and Teddy closes his eyes. He barely hears her next words. "I promised Victoire I would always care for you."

Before he passes out, he thinks of the tulip and the blood against Dominique's skin.


End file.
